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Brian Reid Other Clips |
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Other Clips Soar on: Continuing-care retirement communities are a great choice for some seniors _____ One of the biggest money decisions most of us will face, at some point, is how and where to retire. Whether you are calculating how much money you need to sock away now or are helping your parents or other older relatives research their options, you'll probably check out continuing-care retirement communities (CCRCs) along the way. See Reid's coverage of the American Association for Cancer Research meeting in Washington, D.C. here.
Sitting pretty: The savvy shopper's guide to outfitting a patio or deck in great style. _____ For me, and many like me, the traditional summer shopping challenge (finding the perfect bathing suit) has been replaced by a new one (finding the perfect patio furniture). The recent Frontgate catalog boasts no fewer than six sets in teak, seven in aluminum, seven in wrought iron, and combinations of all three. Now, keep in mind, that's just one retailer. "You can have 100 different patio sets at 100 different prices," notes Cindy Prest, The Home Depot's buyer for patios and grills. Think it Out: 6 proven ways to use your mind to heal your body Men's Health, May 2003_____The man who walked into Dr. Herbert Benson's Boston office was a mess. He was a stress case at work, he suffered awful headaches, and his stratospheric blood pressure did not respond to high doses of prescription medicines. But rather than throw more drugs at him, Dr. Benson, an M.D. who works at a Harvard-affiliated health center called the Mind/Body Medical Institute, prescribed a 10- to 20-minute daily dose of what he calls the "relaxation response": a calming exercise of muscle relaxation and controlled breathing. "He found that, slowly and inexorably, the headaches became less profound," Dr. Benson says. "Eventually, they totally disappeared. His hypertension, which required relatively high doses of two medications, dropped so significantly that he needed only a fraction of the dose of one medication. This man gained a new perspective." _____Stories of patients using meditation and positive energy to will themselves to health have been floating around since the days of leeches and bloodletting. For the most part, physicians have treated the mind-over-disease idea as an offshoot of voodoo medicine. Until recently, that is. Within the past 20 years, doctors and scientists have begun studying the mind-body connection in earnest, and now they're pinning down the science behind the brain's ability to influence healing. While you can't tell your immune-system cells where to go, it's becoming increasingly clear that you can nudge them along. _____T "These aren't trivial effects," says Michael Irwin, M.D., director of the Cousins Center of Psychoneuroimmunology (that's 39 Scrabble points, not counting double word bonuses) at UCLA. He's testing what happens when people are taught to lighten up. "The effects we see with these behavioral interventions are bigger than those found with a placebo." Monkey Trials: Can We Afford To Follow Through on Primate Studies Preclinica, May/June, 2003_____Rodents owe their popularity as research models to a series of essentially negative virtues. Not too large to be housed by the thousands for toxicology testing, not too ex-pensive to feed, nor too slow to breed to be used for genetic studies, they are also—one hopes—not too dissimilar to hu-mans in their responses to different interventions. Still, it’s difficult to doubt the utility of studying therapies in some of our closer relatives. _____“You can’t go wrong by adding nonhuman primates to anything you do,” said Brian Butcher (Tulane University). But the costs, he notes, are extraordinary. “If I were doing a clinical study, I would certainly go through mice…but I would think very carefully about nonhuman primates.” For many therapeutics, especially small molecule drugs, no pri-mate trials are typically performed at all, although work in other large mammals, particularly dogs, is not uncommon. For newer kinds of therapies—or in disease areas like human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), where small animal models are lacking—testing in primates is expected. Budget shortfalls threaten US biotechnology programs (free reg. required) Nature Bioentrepreneur, April 3, 2003_____Currently facing budget crises, many US state governments have put additional funding for life science research on hold, reducing dollars for university and industry research programs that were put in place during the economic boom of the late 1990s. According to biotechnology industry officials, these budget cuts threaten to stifle the creation and development of new biotechnology firms that rely on state funding. _____In many states, organizations charged with doling out state dollars to boost the biotechnology industry are facing cuts, and the Biotechnology Industry Association (BIO; Washington, DC) says its members are trying to keep funding steady, having conceded that additional money is not likely to become available. New Jersey contemplating uniting its three state universities (free reg. required) Nature Bioentrepreneur, March 27_____A plan to unite New Jersey's three state-supported research universities under a single administration and name, already supported by the state's governor and its biotechnology industry, won an additional convert when an influential Harvard professor said such a move would help boost the state's large life sciences industry. _____The plan to merge Rutgers University (New Brunswick, NJ) with the New Jersey Institute of Technology (Newark, NJ) and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMNDJ; Newark, NJ) was introduced last fall by a panel appointed by Governor James McGreevey and led by former Merck & Co. (Whitehouse Station, NJ) president Roy Vagelos. Buying your first home in a tough real estate market _____ AS IF BUYING a first home weren't daunting enough, today's purchasers face a real estate "bubble" that may be ready to burst: Can you imagine writing your first check for your three-bedroom "dream" cape only to have the house's value fall over the next six months? And even if values hold, prices are so high that you'll probably pay more than you'd like. But there are tactics to buying the right house, at the right price, with the right financing. FDA sets date for CBER-to-CDER authority transfer Bio-IT World (online), March 18, 2003_____The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said yesterday that it has completed the third and final planning stage for its massive drug-review reorganization, which will move the authority over approval for a large swath of biologics-derived treatments to the drug center of the FDA. The agency said it has set a target date of June 30 for implementation of the plan. _____ The move, first announced last fall, is designed to harmonize the review process for both drugs and biologics. The FDA’s biologics branch, the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), will cede authority over the review of products such as monoclonal antibodies to the agency’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER). FDA commissioner seeks earlier cooperation with drug makers Bio-IT World (online), March 10, 2003_____Under a new plan put forward by the FDA and now aggressively being sold by its new commissioner, Mark McClellan, the agency will cooperate earlier and more closely with companies developing new drugs. That, said McClellan, should mean drug reviews move "more quickly and effectively" onto the market. _____ The push was announced January 31 in the report "Improving Innovation in Medical Technology: Beyond 2002," and it comes as the pharmaceutical industry struggles to develop new blockbusters to replace once-thriving drug franchises now threatened by cheaper generic versions. Not only are new drug applications to the agency declining, but the FDA also took significantly longer to review so-called priority applications in 2002 than in 2001. Animal Trials and Tribulations Preclinica, March/April, 2003_____Four years ago, a tiny company called Zonagen (The Woodlands, TX) was on the verge of scoring a giant victory in the hottest therapeutic class around. It had filed a new drug application with the FDA for Vasomax., an erectile dysfunction treatment that was racing Viagra® to be the first oral drug on the market. _____Then, in August of 1999, the effort to topple hot-selling Viagra hit an unexpected obstacle. Despite years of clinical testing, including the large-scale randomized trials required for FDA consideration, the company announced that a two-year rat study had found animals exposed to the drug had higher rates of brown fat. Trials of the drug were placed on hold. _____The company and the FDA immediately began discussing additional measures to rule out any risk, and work on the mechanism of brown fat deposition with the drug began. But that research didn’t satisfy the agency, and Zonagen was asked to provide an additional two-year study of Vasomax, known chemically as phentolamine. The return of the friendly bank _____ I couldn't believe my eyes. "No ATM fees," read the sign at Signature Bank. My feet took me inside the branch at the corner of 39th and Madison in Manhattan, which (although still under construction) looked like no bank I'd ever seen. There were no tall counters shielding the tellers, no bulletproof glass with tiny windows to push the money through. Just open space, with a desk here and there. I found a manager. "I have a Chase ATM card," I said. "Are you telling me I can use this card at your bank and won't have to pay anything?" He nodded yes. So I pulled $20 out of checking just to see. And indeed, no $1.50 surcharge was assessed to my account. _____What's going on here? Only a few years ago, banks competed for customers on the basis of the interest rates they offered on deposits. These days, however, savings rates are anemic (the average is 1.4%, according to Bankrate.com). So banks have had to pull out a different playbook. To win you as a customer, they're making an effort to be nice. NIH 2004 budget increase far below 2003 Bio-IT World (online), January 3, 2003_____The National Institutes of Health (NIH) will likely see the days of giant budget increases come to an end next year, according to two reports that suggest that the Bush Administration is weighing an NIH budget increase of less than one percent in 2004. _____ Both Science magazine and The Wall Street Journal have reported that budget pressures could put an end to the double-digit percentage increases the agency has enjoyed over the past few years. Other groups dependent on the NIH funding stream say they're also girding for a small increase. New products highlight ambiguity of orphan drug law
Nature Biotechnology, January 2003 (Subscription required)
The real cost of diets:
It's not cheap to lose that weight USA Weekend, December 29, 2002 _____ Anyone who's ever struggled with weight issues can tell you two things about dieting: One, it isn't easy, and two, it's not necessarily cheap (although you'd think eating less would actually save you money). That's due in part to an array of dieting products and services -- from $1.29 Slim-Fast bars to $25,000 for gastric bypass (a k a stomach stapling) surgery -- that pour $33 billion into the diet industry each year. And don't forget the books, counseling programs, supplements, drugs and special foods, all of which claim to be the key to permanent weight loss or an anti-aging regime. _____There's no debating we have a very serious weight problem in this country: This year alone, 50 million Americans will follow some sort of diet. The ranks of the overweight rose 61% between 1991 and 2000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the surgeon general reports 300,000 people die each year and 39.3 million workdays are lost for obesity-related reasons. Diabetes, heart disease and hypertension are just some of the real and terrible costs. How to make the most of your holiday shopping USA Weekend, November 24, 2002NOTE: This story written by Jean Sherman Chatzky. Additional reporting by Brian Reid. _____Retailers have had a rough year. There have been no blow-out trends (think Pet Rocks or Cabbage Patch Kids) luring people to the stores. Back-to-school shopping was an overall bust. All in all, it has been pretty dismal. But heading into this holiday season, there's actually pretty good news for consumers. _____ Although sales traditionally kick into overdrive post-holidays, that's not the case this year, particularly since last month's Consumer Confidence Index weighed in at a nine-year low. "We're going to see retailers discounting throughout the season," says Russell Jones, vice president of retail consulting for Cap Gemini Ernst & Young. "I don't think it'll be possible to buy too soon this season." Bio-IT World, November 12 2002 _____After a wide-ranging, 20-month search to fill the commissioner's post at the FDA, the Bush White House finally found its man — Mark McClellan — in its own midst. _____ McClellan, a servant to former president Bill Clinton and an economic advisor to current president George W. Bush, sailed through his Senate confirmation hearings last month. He easily won the backing of the entire Senate, and even earned praise from both Republicans and Edward Kennedy, the influential Massachusetts Democrat whose disapproval had derailed some of Bush's past commissioner candidates. Clinical Data Standards Face Uphill Battle Bio-IT World, November 12 2002_____The long, winding path from clinic to FDA approval may soon get another overhaul as the push for better information technology standards gains proponents, government and industry IT experts told attendees at a recent Data Standards and Clinical Development Conference hosted by the Drug Information Association (DIA) in Bethesda, Md. _____ "We believe there's a lot to be saved in terms of money, but there's a lot more to be saved in terms of time." Wayne Kubick, Lincoln Technologies Inc. FDA Approves HIV Test That Gives Results in Minutes Reuters Health (via MEDLINEplus), November 7, 2002_____The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said Thursday that it has cleared for marketing a rapid HIV test that government officials said could revolutionize the battle against the virus that causes AIDS. _____ The OraQuick Rapid HIV-1 Antibody Test requires only a drop of blood and can give accurate results in as little as 20 minutes. That's an improvement over tests used widely now, which require complex analysis that can take up to 2 weeks for results, said Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Tommy Thompson. _____ "It's simple, accurate and very fast," said Thompson, who announced the FDA's decision at a Washington, DC news conference. "Countless more Americans will be able to learn their HIV status." USA Weekend, November 3, 2002 NOTE: This story written by Jean Sherman Chatzky. Additional reporting by Brian Reid. _____Turkeys in the grocery stores, frost on the kudzu -- the year is drawing to a quick close, so it's time to make sure that come April 15 you'll write Uncle Sam a check for as little as possible. _____"Assuming you're not going to be in a higher income bracket next year, the basic concept is to accelerate expenses and defer income," says Jeff Schnepper, author of How to "Pay Zero Taxes 2002" (McGraw-Hill, $14.95). "That not only gives you [instead of the government] the use of your money, but with rates going down, a deduction this year is more valuable than a deduction next year." FDA Gives Biologics a New Look Bio-IT World, October 9, 2002_____ Biologics, long reviewed by a different FDA branch than traditional pharmaceuticals, will now be evaluated by the agency's drug division, a move that both the agency and analysts say should make reviews of new biotechnology products more efficient and consistent. _____The change follows a review of the FDA's operation by outside consultants and months of lobbying by the biotechnology industry, which analysts say has long been stymied by a less predictable approval process than the one used for drugs. Though an agency task force is now hammering out the details, the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) says it expects biotechnology companies to benefit from the reorganization when complete. USA Weekend, October 6, 2002 NOTE: This story written by Jean Sherman Chatzky. Additional reporting by Brian Reid. _____Companies are hiring 36% fewer college grads in 2002 than in the past few years, according to a recent National Association of Colleges and Employers survey. Jobs have evaporated: In June, the latest month for which statistics are available, only 3.2 million positions were waiting to be filled, compared with 4 million a year before. Ouch. _____"Five years ago, it was boom time," says Mark Oldman, founder of the career network site Vault.com. "Now it's the old adage 'The harder I work, the luckier I get.' " Genome Insider: A Conversation with Sean Eddy (note: PDF file, requires Adobe Acrobat) HHMI Bulletin, September 2002_____ Having helped build the rough draft of the human genome, the U.S. genome-sequencing centers are starting to make inroads into the genetics of other animals as well. Determining which animal genomes are the most worthy of sequencing, though, is the task of a panel of scientists convened by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) of the National Institutes of Health. Sean R. Eddy, an HHMI investigator and combutational biologist who studies the evoluation of genomes at Washington University in St. Louis, is on the panel. DOD Report Drives Biotech Projects Bio-IT World, September 9, 2002_____The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) should work more closely with biotechnology and IT companies to tackle problems ranging from bioterrorism to advanced polymers for garments, according to reports issued from within the Pentagon this year that advocate a quadrupling of spending on biodefense. _____The push toward more cooperation with the biotechnology and IT industries, laid out in both "The Defense Science Board 2001 Summer Study," released in May, and an internal report by the agency's Office of Net Assessment, would mark a shift for the Pentagon, which has long focused its resources internally and on physical rather than biological sciences. _____The interest in sound government bio-IT projects goes beyond the Pentagon. In July the White House asked agencies that are expected to be absorbed into the Department of Homeland Security to put certain tech infrastructure projects on hold until a single, unified system can be built. Shorter Paper Trail for Drug Trials? Bio-IT World, September 9, 2002_____Electronic submission of investigational new drug applications (INDs) with the FDA should speed the agency's earliest review of new-drug data, says Shannon Williams, manager of PRA International's electronic submissions group and a former FDA reviewer. _____Williams laid out the process and the advantage of the system that he said would prove quicker and easier than the paper filing that now predominates as part of a workshop on hot topics in clinical trials held by the Regulatory Affairs Professional Society (RAPS) in Washington, D.C., early last month. _____The FDA expanded its electronic submission program earlier this year and formulated the requirements by which companies could use paperless filing to request clearance of biologic INDs, which are requests for permission to test a new drug on humans. Cars: Lease or buy?: Take a 4-question quiz to see which is right for you USA Weekend, September 8, 2002NOTE: This story written by Jean Sherman Chatzky. Additional reporting by Brian Reid. _____If you're in the market for a new car, you're in luck. The pressure on dealers to clear their 2002 inventory is beginning, says Paul Taylor, chief economist of the National Automobile Dealers Association. _____You're seeing it in the slew of 0% financing deals that have reappeared for buyers. As an added plus, the fact that interest rates remain historically low makes this a good time to lease a new set of wheels. The big question: Will you lease or buy? Politics Keeps Top FDA Post Vacant Bio-IT World, August 13, 2002_____The FDA bills itself as one of the nation's most respected consumer protection agencies, overseeing vast swaths of commerce that account for 20 cents of every dollar spent in the United States. But the leading public health agency has been leaderless for a year- and-a-half, dating back to President George W. Bush's inauguration in January 2001. _____Though there have been voids at other federal health and science agencies during the George W. Bush administration — the directorship of the National Institutes of Health was filled in May after a vacancy of more than two years — the failure to install an FDA commissioner has raised concern among drug industry members, advocates, and financial analysts. _____In May, the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) wrote to Bush to ask for quick action on the FDA commissioner — one of the powerful lobbying group's most important goals. The letter, signed by dozens of executives, was the second letter from BIO to Bush this year pushing for a new commissioner. That, BIO argues, would give the agency a point person for the ongoing Washington budget battles. _____"The FDA needs a compelling spokesperson to act as an advocate for the agency," Carl Feldbaum, BIO's president, told a New York City audience earlier this year. "Our nation is funding fundamental biomedical research at unprecedented levels, but starving the agency that handles the other end of the pipeline, where products are developed and, ideally, are approved to benefit patients." Boost Schools' Air Quality to Help Kids Breathe: EPA Reuters Health, August 12, 2002_____ American schools can fight asthma and other health problems by attacking indoor air quality with a systematic, low-cost program, experts said here at an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) meeting on tackling air quality problems in schools. _____The EPA's program, dubbed "Indoor Air Quality: Tools for Schools," gives teachers, staff and administrators access to information about common sources of indoor air quality problems and a blueprint for addressing poor air quality. _____"It's a hands-on way for a school to identify problems, prioritize them and fix them," said Mary Smith, the director of EPA's indoor environments division. _____Smith helped coordinate the EPA's third annual Tools for Schools national symposium, which ended Saturday in Washington, DC, and brought together school, government and public health officials to discuss strategies for fighting indoor air quality deterioration. Addressing that problem could help stem the increase in asthma cases, which rose 160% between 1980 and 1994. Shotgun Sequencing Further Legitimized by NHGRI Bio-IT World, July 11, 2002_____As genome decoders close in on the final draft of the human genetic blueprint, the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) has laid the groundwork for the encore. _____The NHGRI in May targeted the next set of six "high-priority" organisms to be sequenced with federal funding. The set includes the chimpanzee, the chicken, and the honeybee. _____ Though those projects will not carry the attention or prestige of the human or mouse sequencing projects, the technology and techniques used to crack this new set will build on everything learned during the race to finish the human genome, including use of the whole-genome shotgun (WGS) approach championed by Celera Genomics Group. FDA's Show and Tell: A Case of Too Much Information Bio-IT World, June 12, 2002_____The FDA's Web site (www.fda.gov) is a treasure trove of information. Want transcripts of any agency public meeting? They're posted there. Electronic copies of nearly every piece of mail the FDA gets from citizens? Posted there. Company trade secrets? They might just be buried there, too, according to a petition filed in March by a tiny drug maker. _____Jerome Stevens Pharmaceuticals Inc. asserts that the FDA published confidential information about its thyroid drug on the agency's portal to the Internet for five months, representing an unprecedented breach. Before the posting, only three people knew the company's method of keeping its drug, Unithroid, stable. Now, countless people could have accessed the information. "At this point, the damage is done," says Ronald Steinlauf, vice president for the 16-employee company based in Bohemia, N.Y. The company has threatened legal action if the FDA does not agree to stay the approval of drugs that appear to use the Jerome Stevens information. HGS drug flop latest genomics setback
Nature Biotechnology, June 2002 (Subscription required)
Altered virus kills colorectal CA cells: Survival rate increased The Medical Post, May 14, 2002_____BALTIMORE – An investigational colorectal cancer therapy that relies on genetic manipulation of a virus similar to the one that causes the common cold appears safe, and researchers said patients given the highest dose of the therapy lived longer than expected. _____Instead of relying on a virus to deliver medication to the cancer cell, the colorectal cancer strategy presented at the recent Society of Interventional Radiology meeting here, uses a genetically altered virus itself to kill the cancer cells by honing in on a specific mutation. NIH outlines goals to counter bioterror Nature Biotechnology, May 2002 (Subscription required)_____The US National Institutes of Health (NIH; Bethesda, MD) detailed their research priorities for countering bioterrorism on March 14, sketching the outline of what could be one of the largest funding reallocations by the NIH in years. Although the broad goals of the agenda—increasing funding for treatments, diagnostics, vaccines, and more basic research in key areas—are not surprising, according to researchers and executives, the document is already being scrutinized for hints of how the government will spend future funds to combat bioterrorism. Hopkins docs pursue robotic CT-guided biopsy auntminnie.com, April 10_____A robotic biopsy needle paired with CT can accurately biopsy patients with a variety of cancerous lesions. It can also help avoid multiple needle sticks and reduce radiation exposure, according to research presented Tuesday at the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR, formerly SCVIR). US biotech prepares to fight generic biologics Nature Biotechnology, April 2002 (Subscription required)_____As the US Congress debates a re-authorization of key US Food and Drug Administration (FDA; Rockville, MD) regulations, the biotechnology industry is preparing to fight an effort to permit the FDA to more readily approve knock-off versions of recombinant products. _____ Although the FDA can approve generic small-molecule drugs on the basis of bioequivalence data only, generic biologics are required to go through the expensive and painstaking clinical trial process. The generic drug industry, led by Barr Laboratories (Pomona, NY), is lobbying lawmakers to consider changes in the FDA's rules to bring the approval of generic biologics into line with that of small molecules. |